The very first hint of the lair next to the Plaza was a wash of stones scattered along a small brook heading toward the zone’s main river. Jonathan had taken notice of the oddly regular stones scattered along the small river and pointed out the oddity.

But before they could follow that river to check, they had their first elite to contend with.

Grey Mountain Wolf

Level 29 elite

Health: 886

Mind: 363

Endurance: 689

Aether: 128

“That’s a huge wolf.”

Jonas tried to remember their hardest encounters, before replying.

“It’s… a bit less than the elder dogs we fought in Ovildian. At least in terms of vitals.”

“So you’re saying we can do this?” Ira asked.

“And we got almost ten more levels than we had that time. Yes, we can do this.”

Grey Mountain Wolf howls: -58 mind, -2 PRE.

“Be careful everyone,” Jonas said, immediately checking everyone’s levels.

The attack had taken more than 1/4th of Jonathan’s mind stat, which was worrying since he had the lowest. Then he noticed that the wolf’s aether vital had dropped to 50, which meant they were safer. No doubt he’d use it again once the vital grew back to 78 or more, but he could now anticipate the pace of the attack.

The elite didn’t rely on intimidating sounds alone. The massive dire canine reared up and brought black paws to bear.

Grey Mountain Wolf claws. 54 (58-4) damage (32+7 defence).

Ira grunted as the attack raked his mid-section. The wolf might have fewer vitals than the hyena mother they’d fought, but it definitively struck harder. Those claws went deeper.

Jonas didn’t like that fact either. Ira might have a lot more health compared to a few hours ago, and Guss had gained aether since that fight as well, but the latter wasn’t healing faster than back then.

Minor Heal Wound

Aether/Support

Rank 1: Increase target’s health by 55% of Wisdom (14 health). Cost: 0.49 aether/health (7).

They needed to get a better Potential total before facing bigger challenges in that zone. Milestones and gear. He almost regretted not having asked Guss to change Professions. It was tempting to shortcut their way to higher potentials with the Adjustment, but the skillset change worried him. At least, from what Ira indicated, his older defence skills still worked.

The team had joined the fight, taking advantage of the single focus of the beast and pummelling it. The hammer strikes left no visible marks, but the cuts from Alton’s knives made shallow furrows in the grey pelt. Despite that, both melees seemed almost as effective at chipping at the wolf’s extensive health.

As that vital went down, aether started creeping up, and Jonas’s prediction got realized when the wolf howled again as soon as he reached 78.

Grey Mountain Wolf howls: -58 mind, -2 PRE.

Jonas mentally confirmed that his Potential remained unchanged and the only thing that budged was all six’s minds. A smile almost crept up, as he noticed the zero aether left in the wolf’s descriptor. The chances of a third howl were far removed now.

The only other special attack the wolf elite used during the fight was a “tearing bite” that inflicted bleeding, but Ira’s health was still more than 50% when the fight finally ended.

Grey Mountain Wolf: 1219XP/6 contributors = 174XP.

Ira massaged his legs, remarking, “not to disparage that wolf, but couldn’t he have waited until later?”

He then blinked.

“Oh. I missed this. Did I get a new skill? During the fight?”

Skill unlocked: Brace (unranked)

Brace

Physical/Defence

Rank 0: Increase effective armour by your highest equipment’s value (8) for the next attack when activated. Cost: 0.1 endurance/armour.

“New Profession, new skills,” Jonas said.

“Gives me 8 points,” Ira said with slight disappointment, testing his new acquisition.

“We need to get you better gear in that case,” Laura deduced.

“Hey, it’s my sword you’re insulting!”

“Then we need a better sword,” she insisted.

Something else bothered Jonas. Mental calculations might be only slightly easier with his increased Intellect potential, he thought, but he was pretty sure the math did not add up.

“Guys? I got less XP than I should? Anyone else got only 174 from the wolf?”

The look from the team indicated they were not surprised, but Ira immediately twitched.

“I got… 348?”

“What?”

Jonas immediately realized the difference.

“You got twice what we got. Probably because you’re now a tier-two.”

Alton laughed, “so now you’re stealing XP from us.”

“Hey, I’m not… responsible for that!”

Jonas immediately outlined the silver lining in this new change in their circumstances.

“I wasn’t kidding when I said you’d level faster. You will level up twice that fast.”

“My level is still more expensive than when we started.”

“Looks like it balances out,” Alton commented.

Wolf-Lined Chainmail Cap

Head

Quality equipment

Requires: Level 27

Provides: +8 defence rating, +2 PRE, +24 health

“He’s generous with our defender. Skill, XP and now this,” Laura commented when she spotted the slightly dirty cap left as the wolf finally disintegrated into the stream.

Ira blinked then sighed.

“Bollocks. It requires level 27! I’m now level 1!”

“Or 25?” Jonas said. “At least that’s what on the team descriptor.”

“Oh. Right,” Ira said sheepishly.

He then added, “I still need levels.”

“Which I said you’ll get fast. Don’t complain. Remember how long you had to wait for your sword to become useable?”

Ira contemplated the cap for a while before shoving it into his bag for the future. The side bag was starting to bulge from all the items he’d put there. He tried to juggle the various items in it before Jonas took pity on him.

“Just drop your old gear. Keep the minimum. You don’t need the boots you got before your current sollerets.”

Ira looked at the various items he had before sighing. Finally, he followed Jonas’ advice, putting all but his new cap and the rolled-up tunic from London on a large flat stone.

“Just in case. If we need it. We can come back, right?”

Jonas refrained from commenting. From Laura’s head shake and Guss twitching mouth, the rest of the team was also trying not to chide him on his collection habit. Jonas didn’t expect the items to last long exposed to the weather. Although they hadn’t experienced rain or snow. After the unchanging weather in Ovildian, he thought it unlikely.

The stream came out of an opening in the mountainside. For a few seconds, Jonas had a flashback on the wolf cave they’d found near the source of their favourite brook in Ovildian. But this cave had some crumbling ruins lining one side of the cave. The source of the oddly shaped stones in the stream was now apparent. Half of the opening looked just carved into the rock, the other half looked like it had been part of a door stone frame.

“Lair,” Jonathan commented.

“Definitively,” Alton opined.

“Let’s do a small peek, but I don’t think we’ll try it for now,” said Jonas.

“Why not? We just did a 29 elite,” Ira said.

“And the lairs we found were higher level than the surrounding areas. Except for the lake. So, we’ll see what’s the first critter inside before we decide.”

Grey Cave Wolf

Level 41 veteran

Health: 665

Mind: 264

Endurance: 550

Aether: 197

The cave wolf was upon them before they could react and anticipate. Laura yelped as the wolf’s jaw settled upon her.

Grey Cave Wolf tearing bite inflicts bleeding. -4 STA, -1 health/sec.

“Balls!”

“Focus. If he’s alone, he won’t be more dangerous than the elite,” Jonas surmised.

Meanwhile, Ira slashed and kicked the wolf, which did not want to leave their Breaker alone and kept on biting and clawing at the woman. Jonas had to start throwing Air Bursts and Ira kicked with Repel twice before the wolf charged back, aiming for Ira this time. Meanwhile, Guss was placing heals to get Laura’s health back, as the multiple attacks had devastated her total, bringing her to less than half.

Grey Cave Wolf claws. 36 (41-5) damage (40+7 defence).

They retreated out of the cave entrance, but the wolf followed them, undaunted. With more space to spread out, the team could now position itself better to assault their enemy. Guss left Laura with a running Increase Healing, which compensated for the bleeding’s health loss before focusing back on Ira. She ground her teeth, ignored the red stream flowing on her calf, and started wreaking vengeance on the cave beast.

The wolf did not howl but managed to land a tearing bite on Jonathan, which Guss immediately compensated with another Increase Healing. Jonathan then managed to avoid a second bite, then another aimed at Ira. The wolf then finally expired, his health exhausted.

Grey Cave Wolf: 836XP/6 contributors = 119XP.

“Okay. We’ve found our first lair, but I think we’ll skip it for now,” Jonathan admitted.

Guss agreed with unfeigned enthusiasm.

“The entrance is doable, but not if we get two or three of those at the same time.”

Jonas looked at the decomposing wolf carcass before adding, “we all need a lot more levels. Not just Ira.”

“I’m already 1/3rd of the way to the next,” he informed the team.

“That’s good, but we all need to get more. Although we can speed up our exploration. We can assuredly handle the outdoors unless there’s another outdoor lair.”

Jonas pointed back toward the river gorge they had followed to the central Plaza.

“So let’s get back to the border and see if we can find another Gate. And any cat or wolf we spot, we kill.”

As they were heading along the river toward the zone, Jonas noticed Laura coming up to him.

“I’m wondering…”

“What?”

“It’s this weird thing.”

“Weird? As in Labyrinth weird? Or something else weird.”

“Weird in general. I mean… have you thought about what we’re becoming?” she asked.

“Professionals?” Jonas answered with his own question.

“Killers. We spend our days slaughtering everything in sight. Everything is food for… our growth?”

She looked oddly at him. Jonas was trying to figure out what her reasoning was.

“If… when we reach London again, what will we be? Stone-cold killers?”

Jonas shook his head sadly.

“I don’t know, but…” he hesitated. Then, he remembered back in London, as they were fleeing the combat between the French and the British Professionals. He’d seen Laura there, running along with them toward the Gate. She’d been watching the scene, just like Ira and him. Another amateur Gatespotter. This gave him a point in common, a way to explain things.

“Remember back in London? Just before the attack, when we saw that team patrolling the street.”

Laura’s expression turned thoughtful, as the not-so-old memories were coming back.

“That woman, leading that team. That’s what we are becoming. She didn’t look like a killer. She looked like… a Professional. A soldier. Ready for anything, and nothing more.”

“A killer, in other words?” she countered.

“No. Someone ready to kill, but not looking to kill. Well, maybe the French, that is,” he added after thinking about it. “Are you really that worried?”

“Yes and no. I’ve realized that… I’m not going to be that girl I used to be, making cloth bolts for tailors across London. Not anymore. Being a Professional gives me so much more. All that Strength. All that Focus. I’m becoming different, and I don’t know who I will become. Do you?”

Jonas stayed silent for a while, thinking about the question. They stepped over a few brooks going into the river as he pondered the future.

“I don’t. But… in a way, I’ve never dreamed of being a leatherworker. That was just a trade that I could pick up. I guess that’s why Ira and I were watching that Gate. He wanted to be something else. So did I. And now that we know what being a Professional means, I don’t know what Professional I will be. Some mighty magician, apparently. But… Guss could change. He could become a Crusader rather than a Mender. Hospitaler, rather. You can probably become anyone you choose, too.”

“That’s still being a Professional.”

“We will always be Professionals now. I don’t think that can be rolled back, even if we wanted to. If… when we get back to London, you can retire. Never step back into the Labyrinth. But you will still be a Professional. You’ll heal from any wounds in less than an hour. You will have more strength than the porters working every day at the docks. Our choice is… growing or staying in place.”

“By killing.”

“All the Professionals in the Labyrinth do that. That woman and her team, they’ve done it to get where they are. But it’s… Labyrinth monsters. They are strange creatures. They all attack, all the time. They’re not animals, they are… challenges.”